It’s wishful thinking, but the day radio licenses are offered to the public for a minimal rate that’s when a radio revolution will begin. I’m not saying that the Spartans and the Greeks will face off and only 300 will die, but it would be interesting to see how a listener conceptualises a soundscape.

Imagine a bunch of youth who own one such radio unit. I’m sure their sound would be edgy and in your face. The point here is, why aren’t any radio stations offering similar software on-air? Some radio units have massive think tanks, not to forget other stations in their network, to help out via video conferencing, teleportation and whatever else Captain Kirk liked. Then how is it that we hear such toothless programming on-air?

I personally would like to meet the individuals/nerds who came up with the moronic idea of formatting a radio station in India and present them with pacifiers. These individuals are like Duckworth and Lewis. When all was good, these fellas popped up and killed it. I’m sure bigger players in the radio medium know that they are close to the saturation zone when it comes to churning out new ideas.
This limitation is only because you format yourself and don’t allow or entertain any content that falls outside this fence. This is so old school, especially when we as a nation have a craft headed to Mars and other phenomenal happenings like Rakhi Sawant starting a political party. When everyone has moved on boldly where no one has dared before, why are so many radio units so scared to take the next big step? Maybe they need a hug.

I feel for those presenters who are in formatted radio stations, as Alcatraz would have been a better option. Therefore my prayers to the radio gods are to liberalise the license fee and let the listeners create and give good sound a chance. Finally, may formats never be used like wooden racquets in the game of tennis, but as manure to cultivate anything else but radio. See you next week!

-Niladri(talkingradio@gmail.com. The writer’s views expressed here are entirely in his personal capacity)